Abarth reduces 600E Scorpionissima price to swerve ‘luxury’ car tax

Abarth has reduced the price of its 600e Scorpionissima to ensure future customers avoid the expensive car tax supplement which comes into effect in April.

The Expensive Car Supplement – or so-called ‘luxury car tax’ – will mean that from April 1 all electric vehicles priced over £40,000 will have to pay an additional £410 tax per year year over five years from the start of the second year, possibly totalling £1,640.

Originally priced from £41,975, the Abarth 600e Scorpionissima will now be available to UK customers from £39,875; a discount of £2,100.

Giuseppe Cava, the managing director of Abarth and Fiat UK said: “Recognising that our top-of-the-range Abarth 600e Scorpionissima would have attracted the Expensive Car Supplement coming in April, we’ve made the decision to reduce the price of the car and protect our customers from this tax rise.”

The 600e Scorpionissima’s 278bhp makes it the most powerful Abarth car ever made. It has a 0-62mph time of 5.8 seconds, while the standard, 237bhp Abarth 600e has a 0-62 time of 6.24s.

Both cars have 254lb ft of torque, a top speed of 124mph, and a range of up to 207 miles.

The standard Abarth 600e’s OTR pricing will remain at £36,975, comfortably below the £40,000 threshold.

Abarth has confirmed that the 600e will arrive in the UK in March, 2025.

This week, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders called for the government to rethink the application of the Expensive Car Supplement. Despite new EV registrations climbing again, the industry body said that applying extra tax when private interest in EVs was still subdued would only harm the UK’s shift to electric power.

Its chief executive, Mike Hawes, noted: “Affordability remains a major barrier to uptake, hence the need for compelling measures to boost demand, and not just from manufacturers. The application, therefore, of the ‘Expensive Car Supplement’ to VED on electric vehicles is the wrong measure at the wrong time.

“Rather than penalising EV buyers, we should be taking every step to encourage more drivers to make the switch, helping meet government, industry and societal climate change goals.”